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Released by: Terror Vision
Released on: December 28th, 2021.
Director: Yannis Veslemes
Cast: Vangelis Mourikis, Alexia Kaltsiki, Daniel Bolda
Year: 2014
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Norway – Movie Review:
Written and directed by Greek filmmaker Yannis Veslemes in 2014, Norway is set way back in 1984 where a man named Zano (Vangelis Mourikis) leaves his apartment and its covered windows to travel by train to Athens.
Despite the fact that he's a vampire and is ridiculously disheveled looking, Zano is looking to party during his time in the big city. While Zano waits to meet a contact, he decides to go on the hunt for some 'warm' women to satisfy his cravings. As such, he hits up a few clubs where he shows off his admittedly awesome dance moves and drawing no small amount of attention to himself in doing so. Soon enough, Zano meets a prostitute named Alice (Alexia Kaltsiki) who manages to coerce him into heading with her to a secret location to meet a drug dealer/recently turned vampire named Peter (Daniel Bolda). As he gets drawn into their world, things get... weirder.
Veslemes feature filmmaking debut isn’t perfect, but it’s pretty damn good. There are times when we can’t quite connect with Zano the way we need to in order to be as drawn to him as maybe Veslemes wanted us to be, but he more than makes up for that with one striking visual set piece after the next. Cinematographer Hristos Karamanis has done a seriously impressive job of capturing some utterly bizarre but not less captivating images on screen, using shadow, light and color in unique and fascinating ways to create the kind of film that, while light on plot, is very easy to get lost in. The use of music and Veslemes’s own score is also really strong, those night club and dance scenes using front and rear channels to really envelope the audience as we go along for Zano’s strange ride.
As far as the acting goes, Vangelis Mourikis is absolutely the right choice for the lead in the film. He looks completely burnt out and used up, almost like a corpse which makes sense given that he’s a vampire, but he brings a lot of very sincere energy to his role without overdoing it. He never really chews the scenery here, instead he just seems to invest in his character the right amount of weight, giving Zano a strangely compelling screen presence and making him a character that we definitely want to know more about as his story plays out. The supporting work from Alexia Kaltsiki and Daniel Bolda is also very good. Both of them are interesting looking and have something about them that makes us want to watch what they get up to.
This may, at times, definitely feel like an exercise in style over substance but it’s quirky enough and strange enough and absolutely stylish enough to work. If it isn’t a perfect film, it’s a very good one and quite a unique take on the typically cliché-ridden vampire genre.
Norway – Blu-ray Review:
Terror Vision offers up Norway on Region A Blu-ray in an AVC encoded 1080p high definition presentation framed at 2.35.1 widescreen with the seventy-five minute feature taking up 18.2GBs of space on the 25GB disc. Picture quality of the digitally lensed feature is excellent. The movie’s dark color scheme is reproduced beautifully and we get nice, deep black levels throughout. There are a few spots where you might notice some really minor compression artifacts but otherwise, no complaints here at all. There’s lots of detail, depth and texture to the image and the movie looks great in high definition.
The only audio option for the feature itself is a 24-bit DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track in the film’s native Greek with optional subtitles provided in English only. The track is really strong, spreading out the soundtrack in effective ways to create a pretty immersive listening experience. It’s clean, clear and nicely balanced throughout with strong bass and crisp dialogue.
The main extra on the disc is a commentary track with Director Yannis Veslemes that goes into a lot of detail about writing the film, directing the picture, assembling his cast and crew, working closely with his cinematographer and his leading man, the music in the film, the look of the picture and lots more. The disc also includes a twenty-one minute interview with Veslemes that covers the making of the film, working with the cast and crew and more. It covers some of the same ground as the commentary track does but if commentary tracks aren’t your thing, this is a good option.
There’s also a thirty-minute selection of Behind The Scenes Footage here that shows Veslemes and company at work on the picture. We get to see some scenes being staged, the crew at work behind the camera and the cast taking direction. It’s a good look at what went into the making of the picture.
Rounding out the extras on the disc are a behind the scenes still gallery, a teaser, an international trailer. a music video, menus and chapter selection options.
Norway - The Final Word:
Norway isn’t a perfect film but it’s always interesting and the quick running time makes it an easy one to commit to. Remarkably stylish and boosted by a really engaging performance from Vangelis Mourikis, it’s an atypical vampire movie but one worth seeking out if you don’t mind a movie that breaks from genre traditions. The Blu-ray release from Terror Vision looks and sounds excellent and features some pretty solid supplements as well, making this one easy to recommend.